John Murray has an easy commute. Most of the two-mile bike ride he makes from his home on Circle Road, near the Syracuse University campus, to the State Tower Building downtown is downhill.

"I just get on the bike and float all the way down," said Murray, 79, a management consultant who served on the Syracuse Common Council 35 years ago.

The trip to his office takes just 12 minutes.

Of course, the ride back home is a little tougher because it's mostly uphill. But that's not much of a problem for Murray. It take just a little longer: 18 minutes.

Murray has his limitations. He won't take the bike out when the snow is piled up on the streets. But when the streets are clear, it's his preferred way to travel.

"I like to be able to stop when I see someone I know," he said. "You can talk to people. And you can see things that you don't see when you're driving."

Murray, who had quadruple bypass surgery in 2003, also finds bike riding good for his health.

"It gives me a great deal of exercise," he said.

Murray and six other bicyclists formed the Syracuse-Onondaga Cycling Coalition -- now named Bike CNY -- seven years ago to promote biking in the county. It raised $3,600 to buy bike racks for downtown, and it recommended that the city designate about 40 miles of bike lanes on its streets.

The city has established about 12 miles of bike lanes. Murray said it's a good start.

"They certainly have shown themselves in the last few years to be very cooperative," he said of city officials.

He said he has noticed more bike traffic on the city's streets since the bike lanes were established.